My first most special favorite was and I suppose still is Jimi Hendrix ,he felt so very special to me [and still dose but in moderation]I was convinced his spirit was helping me learn.I have had dreams where Im jammin my Guitar generally around a campfire, Jimi would just all of a sudden be there so, he would play the most awesome Guitar and then ride away on a wooden Horse [wierd I know],but it was almost as though his soul was in my heart.

My first Guitar was a white Strat copy I did own a Fender Strat for a while and thinking back that was a beautiful Guitar and I was a mug for selling it when a friend waved 800 dollars in my face.
I was playing a little when I first started listening to Jimi ,it was then I started practicing alot more .I bought a book called note for note by Jimi Hendrix it had 12 songs in it they were my first 12 songs that I learnt.
I hope theres an after life so one day I can thank him for teaching me Guitar.
The idea of this thread ,Im hoping you players out there will put your deep feelings about your favorite and what effect it had on you

My favorite would be Steve Morse. I was turned on to his music by my father when I was around 16. I went to see him at Center Stage in Atlanta (the night the Dregs recorded "Bring Em Back Alive" it turns out).

I have LOVED anything by him ever since. I have the entire Dregs and SMB catalog. I met him after a show in Atlanta and talked him into letting me do his website for a while.

I did the site for a couple of years, then my career started keeping me too busy to keep up, so I turned it over to another guy (Daniel Benggston).

I'm still a huge fan and see him every time I have the chance.

It doesn't matter what's happening in my life at the time. I can throw on a Steve Morse CD and immediately, I'm in a much better mood. I guess we all have music that just does it for us. His compositions and playing do it for me...

Jimi is my all time fave as well and every time I'm having some problems with my playing I just imagine him as a little kid who has just picked a guitar and has no idea of how to use it. The idea that there was a time when Jimi was just as bad as I am really makes me think positively.

Nita Strauss is my favorite guitarist. She's a technical player with a very fluid technique. Nita's a total badass who collaborated with the WWE and toured with Alice Cooper. Orianthi always seemed like a goody good. She was never hardcore enough for me. She blatantly borrowed her tapping technique from Eddie Van Halen. The fact that she played with people like Michael Bolton and Carrie Underwood also worked against her. Dating a guy from a bubble gum rock band also undermined her credibility. Her solo work sounds too much like Avril Lavigne.

mystixboi wrote:I'd have to say... Richie sambora. I was 8 years old when I first heard the songs an saw the videos from Slippery When Wet. Totally blew me away. I still love him!!!

Going to see him in concert on October!!!

Good to see the Richie love on a Vai forum!!! LOL

He's my #1 as well. I was probably 16 when I first heard him, also on Slippery. Stevie Ray Vaughan is my #2. And, all these years later, after 10,000 albums on my ipod, and listening heavily to almost all musical styles, if someone were to ask me "what's your playing style like?" I would have to say a mix of Sambora and Vaughan. That's home. That's my foundation.

I can shred (some) if that's what the song calls for, and I wouldn't play a George Lynch style over a slow blues (nor would I play a Vaughan style over a metal song): that's probably the biggest thing I got from Richie: play FOR THE SONG. Without the song (the melody), you got nothing. It's why a few "shredders" still stand above the pack, while the rest have faded away. It's about the SONG/MUSIC, not about the instrument and your proficiency on it.

I actually just finished building a superstrat, in honor of Richie... it's basically his Fender sig strat with the HSS configuration, but I opted for a Bladerunner instead of a Floyd (I have a Floyd guitar already) and of course, no stars